Prayer is an ever-accessible privilege and duty. We can always come before God in any place and in any circumstance. God has invited us to His “throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” and we should “with confidence draw near” (Hebrews 4:16). But how much do we pray? Too often we neglect prayer. We fail even to sense our need for prayer. Though we are always in desperate need of God’s mercy, we succumb to weakness and weariness. Our need is great, yet our prayers are few.
Puritan pastor Samuel Lee (1627–1691) offers helpful instruction for us in his treatise “Secret prayer successfully managed.” He prepared the treatise to encourage his congregation to be diligent in their prayers. How can we be more faithful to avail ourselves of the throne of grace? What can we do to season our thoughts so that when we do come to God in prayer, we are ready for fruitful communion with Him?
Early in the treatise, Lee mentions 5 ways to prepare the heart and mind for prayer:
1. Focus your attention on God. Specifically, he says to consider “some attributes of God that are proper to the intended petitions.” We need to think most about God—not our troubles, not our wants, not our trials—but God.